[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce 2.0

[Silktie]

No, I actually love that coat! I love Smiley, so anything I relate to him is good for future reference. The coat somehow reminds me of another era, I don't know why. It seems like something a spy would have worn in the Cold War years whilst sneaking around the damp and misty English countryside making chalk marks on stuff and retrieving dead drops...

I've never seen Harry as sexist. He belittles some men with the same gusto he does the women. Re his comments about his kids, I got the impression that he always talked Graham up as the smart one because Graham was struggling as a kid and Harry wanted to boost his self-confidence. I think, perversely, he always viewed Catherine as the stronger, more confident one that didn't need his emotional support as much as Graham did. So, without meaning to, he belittled Catherine's achievements so that Graham wouldn't feel inferior.

Harry's problem is, and always has been, that he is extremely poor at relating emotionally to the people he truly loves. He's better with those he cares about, like his team, but doesn't seem to know how to express deeper feelings.